• Ana-Maria Forsea, Ivanka Kovalyshyn, Stephen W Dusza, and Allan C Halpern.
• Oncologic Dermatology and Allergology Department, Elias University Hospital, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania. aforsea@yahoo.com
• Dermatol Surg. 2010 Dec 1; 36 (12): 1962-7.

BackgroundThe general public and health professionals are increasingly choosing the Internet to access skin cancer prevention information.ObjectivesTo identify the optimal mechanism for finding skin cancer educational resources through the Internet and to characterize the resources currently available on-line.MethodsA survey of experts involved in skin cancer prevention, followed by standardized searches through popular general Internet search engines using a list of 10 terms relevant to skin cancer prevention resources.ResultsInternet search was the preferred modality for identifying skin cancer educational resources of all survey participants. The five most-trusted Internet sites identified by the survey participants ranked within the top 10 most findable web sites using general search engines. Ninety-six of 1,000 web pages retrieved using general web-search engines provided information regarding specific skin cancer prevention resources. Seven databases were identified that catalogued educational resources from multiple sources. Peer-reviewed analysis of the outcomes associated with the educational resources was available for only four of 489 resources identified (2.7%).ConclusionsInformation on skin cancer educational resources available on the Internet is abundant but redundant, and direct access to these resources remains difficult. No sites were identified that comprehensively catalogued and characterized the resources available from the leading providers.© 2010 by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc.

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